RELAX! I've had this happen on my 2007 335i and "limp mode" just makes the car less peppy (sorta like your Saturn, Blazer or Honda). You can easily keep it at highway speeds and accellerate reasonably.

I was a little concerned if it happened to me. However, from your comments it sounds like it really should not be something to be overly worried about. I spoke to my BMW SA today, who also spoke to the BMW Shop Manager today. Both of these individuals drive the 3 Series car themselves. Anyway, the shop manager lives a block from me and knows me very well. He always looks out for me when I bring my cars in for service. Thus, I trust him completely. Both he and the SA indicated that the 933 HPFP that was installed in my car back in June is BRAND NEW even though the pump invoice says remanufactured on it (i.e remanufactured from the previous 943 model). Thus, hopefully I won't have the limp mode any time soon.

Other than this issue, I am absolutely thrilled everytime I go into my garage, start up my E90, and hit the road. It still is the most enjoyable car I ever bought.

Perhaps it has something to do with the way the car is being driven. I am not by any stretch implying that the owners with multiple failures are mistreating their cars but it does seem strange that some cars have had multiple failures and some cars have had none.

Perhaps it has something to do with stop and go traffic, rapid acceleration, sustained high speed cruising, etc.?

CA

I can certainly see where the logical argument could be made that higher rpms = increased load on the fuel delivery system, but while I'm not saying these cars are made to beat on, they should certainly be able to handle whatever stop and go / highway driving...and many of them do just fine.

I do have DInan software installed, but do not drive the car very hard at all. My first pump also died BEFORE I got the software installed anyway. Once in a while I will hit it a bit, but definitely not all the time, and I am not a maniac driver. This is the ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE though, right? I hope they would build it so it can actually be driven and not babied all the time.

And to the one who posted about Limp Mode being like a Saturn, Blazer, Honda, etc...NO FRICKIN WAY. I had this 3 weeks ago and had to drive home from the place I was at when the car died. It BARELY accelerated. I could floor the gas and it putted along like an old Yugo. VERY unsafe for anything but short local driving. My dealer is 10+ miles away and I go on the highway, no way was I going to drive it there like this, so they came and towed it away, for the SECOND time now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by captainaudio

Perhaps it has something to do with the way the car is being driven. I am not by any stretch implying that the owners with multiple failures are mistreating their cars but it does seem strange that some cars have had multiple failures and some cars have had none.

Perhaps it has something to do with stop and go traffic, rapid acceleration, sustained high speed cruising, etc.?

I just got my car back from the dealer today. This is the second fuel pump that they replaced in the last six months. I hope the new fuel pump and the software update will eliminate the issue with the car went into the Limp mode where you can't accelerate.

"If it ain't broken don't fix it". My car has been flawless & I certainly don't want this HPFP experiment to screw it up since my car is not a lease.

on the flip side, i HAVE read that initial hpfp failure can cause decreased performance. if it is something that happens gradually over time, the driver may not notice it until one of the more abrupt symptoms occur.

i'm on the other side of the fence. if you have the time, get it done!

on the flip side, i HAVE read that initial hpfp failure can cause decreased performance. if it is something that happens gradually over time, the driver may not notice it until one of the more abrupt symptoms occur.

i'm on the other side of the fence. if you have the time, get it done!

Thats correct...

lower gas mileage and slower 0-60 etc

but the above is also true for their latest update too.

I wish there was some way easily for us to show bmw the sold city/highway mpg numbers dont match what we're getting with the latest software... I know this is something bmw doesnt want to touch.

I can certainly see where the logical argument could be made that higher rpms = increased load on the fuel delivery system, but while I'm not saying these cars are made to beat on, they should certainly be able to handle whatever stop and go / highway driving...and many of them do just fine.

I totally agree. If BMW is going to tout the performance of their cars and publish performance figures it is reasonable to expect that the performance can be utilized without damaging the car.

Does any one experience the following issue after the new software/pump update?

1. slower acceleration?
2. Smell of fuel when start the car?
3. lost of power between 1000-3000 rpm?

I experienced the smell of fuel when starting the car. I complained about it a number of times and was told it was not a problem. I had my car towed to the dealership after a Virginia emissions inspection failed due to a "major fuel leak" and was told the car should not be driven. The dealership determined there was a leak from the fuel line connections of the HPFP. Their description indicated there were "defects in lines preventing them from seating properly".

I had my HPFP replaced with the 881 version as a result of SIB 130308.

BTW, I am on the latest software version as of last week and no longer smell fuel when starting the car.

I am willing to bet an improper installation over time resulted in this fuel leak.

Just purchased 07 335i about 3 weeks ago and I just took the car in for the 2nd time yesterday!

Noticed Car wouldn't start right away first

Then after 1st week I got engine malfunction light and car started shaking all crazy

Took car in for first time and service advisor said it wasn't fuel pump...Just needed to update software which is a bit odd since I just purchased a CPO BMW!

Yesterday the car was not starting right away again so I took it back. SA told me that this is the protocol BMW is making them follow (basically give us the run around) before they can replace HPFP.

I'll keep you posted on what happens next since it's at dealer right now already and how they react to this recall notice...pretty horrible from a PR standpoint for BMW I'd have to say....

Just got off phone with SA and he said that he knows about recall and that they "can't" reproduce my issue at the moment with the car not starting but they are still trying. As it relates to the recall from BMW he said it's gonna be another 2 weeks before they have instructions from BMW on how to service recalled vehicles.

I'd have to disagree. I plan on leasing my first BMW this spring but prior to that I have owned a Saturn, a Chevy Blazer and two Honda Accords. All of these cars were about $20-$40k less than a 335i and none ever went into any limp mode. Even when my Blazer began having problems with the water pump at 36,000 miles (how convenient) it still ran and never put me in danger. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a $50-$60k car to have a reliable fuel pump. In fact, I think we should demand it. I don't want to pull out in front of a truck, hit the gas and go into limp mode over an issue BMW has been aware of for years. We're talking about thousands of these things being replaced - not just a few here and there.

I had been planning on getting a 335i but am not impressed with BMW's actions up to and including today's press release. The 328i is looking to be a safer choice unless BMW definitively corrects this problem.

Totally agree. Car parts break but this one shouldn't be something to ignore.

Agreed. 45k on an 11/06 build with non-recurring and very minor symptoms. If it was simply a QC problem in pump manufacturing, this problem would have been easy enough to sort out. The fact that the same pump that lasts for 5 or 10k mi in one car will last over 50 in another is suspicious to me.

A simple parallel - take fuses. When a fuse blows, you replace it. When it blows over and over and over, you're not simply replacing fuses. You're looking for what's causing the fuses to blow. The probability of getting defective fuses is a lot lower than the probability of some externalities causing fuses to blow.

But, after 4 years they can't figure out what causes the pump to fail? Sounds like a bad design/engineer for the engine. Just like those 996 porsche 911s and boxters from 98-2006ish....the intermediate shaft breaks unpredictably and it was due to a design fault for the engines. They get replaced and it still fails. However on 911 Turbos and GT3s, the engine was rock solid as they were built & tested for racing.

That's why M3 is the more reliable car, although it'll be more expensive for maintenence. M3 engines are all built for the track and are raced professionally.

Perhaps it has something to do with the way the car is being driven. I am not by any stretch implying that the owners with multiple failures are mistreating their cars but it does seem strange that some cars have had multiple failures and some cars have had none.

Perhaps it has something to do with stop and go traffic, rapid acceleration, sustained high speed cruising, etc.?

CA

Even if that was the case, it's still not really acceptable for the pump to fail just because of more aggressive driving (to a reasonable degree that is. I assume not everybody who experienced pump failures all raped their car). Especially on the 335, where these cars were purposely built for driving fun, and from a company that "the ultimate DRIVING machine" is their top priority.

Chill, I was just asking what you were getting at. But thanks for pointing out my spelling error.

I didn't mean for that to come across negatively, but I can see how it did. I just meant to clarify what I meant, while correcting that for you, I'm not a grammar nazi per se but I do appreciate when people point out my mistakes. No offense intended

Even if that was the case, it's still not really acceptable for the pump to fail just because of more aggressive driving (to a reasonable degree that is. I assume not everybody who experienced pump failures all raped their car). Especially on the 335, where these cars were purposely built for driving fun, and from a company that "the ultimate DRIVING machine" is their top priority.

I don't think it is acceptable either, but I wordered if there was a correlation.

I didn't mean for that to come across negatively, but I can see how it did. I just meant to clarify what I meant, while correcting that for you, I'm not a grammar nazi per se but I do appreciate when people point out my mistakes. No offense intended